An edgy, realistic, and utterly captivating novel from an exciting new voice in teen fiction.

Alexi
Littrell hasn't told anyone what happened to her over the summer.
Ashamed and embarrassed, she hides in her closet and compulsively
scratches the back of her neck, trying to make the outside hurt more
than the inside does.

When Bodee Lennox, the quiet and awkward
boy next door, comes to live with the Littrells, Alexi discovers an
unlikely friend in "the Kool-Aid Kid," who has secrets of his own. As
they lean on each other for support, Alexi gives him the strength to
deal with his past, and Bodee helps her find the courage to finally face
the truth.

A searing, poignant book, Faking Normal is the extraordinary debut novel from an exciting new author-Courtney C. Stevens.

My Review:

This book had quite a bit of hype and I was curious to see if the book would live up to the hype. It is a novel about a young girl Alexi who is hiding a secret. She has been hiding this secret for some time and all the while she is trying to maintain her social standing, her academic standing and her place within her family. This is proving more and more difficult for her and when Bodee Lennox moves in with her family she is finally forced to think about this secret.

I have to admit that I did like the characters in this book. I feel like it showed an accurate portrayal of sibling relationships especially when there is an age difference. I also think that Alexi's character was endearing. You couldn't help but feel for her and throughout the whole novel I wanted to reach into the book and give her a hug. I also really liked Bodee. He just seemed so genuine and so nice. He could do no wrong in this novel even if he wasn't the most popular guy.

I have to admit that while I liked the characters and the story for some reason I didn't find myself loving this book as much as I would have liked to. So many people seemed to really like it and for me it was good but not amazing. I figured out the twist pretty early on and I think I spent most of the novel being angry with some of the characters. I just wanted to yell at people: "Don't you see what's happening here? Open your eyes!"

Overall, I think this is a good book and that many would enjoy it. If you like contemporaries then you'll probably like this one.